East Africa

The Birthplace of Safari

Our website contains all you need to know to start researching your Tanzania adventure. We keep it as informative as possible, but it is always worth getting in touch directly, by email or telephone. As with any destination, things change and the excellent deals we get from our suppliers vary from week to week, which means your best source of information, travel advice, and recommendations will always be our expert consultants.

Eyes On Serengeti is our new itinerary-building which gives you the freedom to explore your options online before speaking to an expert. It is an excellent tool for you to get an instant price for your dream trip before you work with a Tanzania expert to fine-tune it and make it a reality.

Our Planning safari Guide to Tanzania is a good place to start if you are in the initial research stage of your planning. It provides a brief overview of what a Tanzania holiday has to offer, a few of our favorite things about Tanzania, and how the experts here at Tanzania Odyssey can craft an itinerary to suit your special interests and expectations.

The majority of Tanzania’s wildlife is resident year-round, so safari experiences and wildlife viewing can be fantastic year-round. However, April and May can be rainy and are probably best avoided – especially if you are also planning time on the beach. Generally, the best time for dry-season wildlife viewing is from July – October. However, The Great Migration is exceptional in February, as this is calving season, so there are definitely exceptions to this rule! We cannot stress enough that the most effective way to find the best itinerary to suit you is for you to call us and discuss.

Zanzibar: Most people visit the island of Zanzibar after their Tanzania safari. Zanzibar has a huge variety of boutique hotels to suit a range of tastes and budgets, with a similarly wide range of activities, including diving. The island does mostly conform to the Indian Ocean idyll that its name suggests, although some beaches are tidal, so it is worth doing a bit of research on our Zanzibar beaches page before setting your heart on a specific beach resort. Stone Town is also a great non-beach town to explore whilst staying on the island.

Tanzania experiences two dry seasons, lasting from January to March and June to September. If you’re coming to Tanzania for the sublime array of wildlife then we recommend timing your visit with either of the dry seasons. The reason being that the vegetation is less dense, so game viewing is somewhat easier and animals tend to head to commonly known waterholes, rivers, and lakes for refreshment.
The second dry season from June to September is the most popular time to visit Tanzania. So if you want the great weather and easily found wildlife but fewer crowds, maybe plan to visit between January and March.

April to May and October to November mark the rainy seasons in Tanzania. The first rainy season, from April to May is seen as the heaviest and a raincoat is a must-have. The second, from October to November, then sees lighter rainfall.
The rainy seasons can be a beautiful time to visit as the vegetation is at its most lush and green. Rainfall tends to fall in short showers, interspersed with bursts of sunshine, which can make for some excellent photography. April to May is also the low season in Tanzania, so parks are usually less crowded and rates for accommodation and tours can be lower.

If you’re visiting the vast Serengeti, time your visit with the second dry season from June to September to experience the annual highlight of the great migration. This epic natural event sees millions of wildebeest, zebra, and antelope migrate north to the Masai Mara in Kenya from July to November.

This is also a great time to visit if you’re looking to do a combined safari to Tanzania and Kenya. But if you’re looking to avoid the crowds the migration brings, visit the Serengeti in the first dry season from January to March, which is also the wildebeest calving season.

Wildlife viewing inside the Ngorongoro Crater is excellent year-round. However in the dry seasons, from January to March and June to September, the grass on the crater floor is short – making Africa’s iconic wildlife much easier to spot.

If you are looking to climb Kilimanjaro then there are a few things to bear in mind. The warmest months are January and February, however these also bring with them the largest numbers of trekkers. By March through to May the rains come making trekking potentially more challenging – however there are considerably less people on the mountain.
June to August then see colder temperatures but less rain and September and October are fairly dry with pleasant temperatures. November to December see the rains return but the temperatures are still quite mild. Despite what the daytime temperature is, it gets cold at night on the mountain and naturally the closer you are to the summit the colder it will be.